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RPGs with multiple standard battle themes.

TriggerShy

TriggerShy

Member
Mar 26, 2018
1,602
So I love RPGs, but sometimes when the battle theme doesn't appeal to me much, it can really be a good part in turning fights into a slog. For example: as much as I love Ni No Kuni 1, hearing the same start up in every fight just got tiring, but I liked Ni No Kuni 2's battle theme more, so it didn't wear out its welcome as fast and I feel the same about Persona 5's theme, but fights actually started to end too fast once I nailed down the battle system. For Pokémon it's not that big of a deal, because of how many battle themes it has; wild battle, trainer battle, evil team battle, gym battle, rival battle, legendary Pokémon battle, and Elite Four battle instead of the usual "standard" and "boss" themes.

On the top of my head, the Earthbound/Mother series and The World Ends With You. For both of these games, I feel that having more than one standard battle theme really makes the battles feel less monotonous. There's also Kingdom Hearts, which has its battle theme change depending on the world you're in. I believe Octopath Traveler also has different themes depending on chapter? Or at least that's what I've heard. So do you know any other RPGs with multiple standard battle themes?
 

Deleted member 419

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Mother games already mentioned twice, including by OP, but I think it's worth mentioning Mother 3 in particular. I think it probably has more standard battle themes than any other RPG ever made, not sure of the exact count but I'd say it has at least 30.
 
AzurePhoenix

AzurePhoenix

Member
May 22, 2018
25
The Tales series usually changes battle themes at major turning points in the story, I believe Shadow Hearts also does this. It is certainly refreshing and I wish more RPGs did this. I also like how games likes Paper Mario have different themes for each of the bosses. Makes them feel more special.
 
archreaper93

archreaper93

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Oct 27, 2017
1,421
SMT Nocturne has at least 5 standard battle themes: Overworld, Amala Network, Town, Dungeon, Labyrinth of Amala.
 
Chumunga64

Chumunga64

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Jun 22, 2018
14,280
I think Final Fantasy XV has the most amount of standard battle themes in the series. I'm pretty sure there are five battle themes for the different areas in the games, one for hunting regular wildlife and another for more dangerous hunts. there is also a standard daemon (that's how the game spells it) and strong daemon battles. I'm pretty sure there are two battle themes for when you face enemies from Niflheim as well.
 
JoDa

JoDa

Member
Jan 12, 2018
558
Final fantasy XV has 3 amazing different battle themes depending on the area of the map you're at aswell as one specific to when you're fighting daemons and one for when you're fighting imperial troops . It also has different themes for beast bosses, daemons bosses and imperial bosses. Oh and there's a specific battle theme for any non boss hunt. There's a ton of great music in the game
 
Dreamboum

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,865
full disclaimer this is my video but SaGa Frontier 2 made an incredible job making several battle themes that still keeps the same melody. Since no one else did a compilation on youtube I did it myself



Another answer is SMT4. It has a different battle theme based on where you are.
 
lord_of_flood

lord_of_flood

One Winged Slayer
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Jan 1, 2018
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  • Tales of series - usually changes when the story reaches pivotal point(s)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2 - Depends on where you are located, or what point you're at in the story (I forget if it's one or the other, or both)
  • SMT IV - depends on your location
 
Kanzeon

Kanzeon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
214
I know Persona 4 Golden has two battle themes based on whether or not you get advantage in battle.
 
OP
OP
TriggerShy

TriggerShy

Member
Mar 26, 2018
1,602
Dreamboum said:
full disclaimer this is my video but SaGa Frontier 2 made an incredible job making several battle themes that still keeps the same melody. Since no one else did a compilation on youtube I did it myself



Another answer is SMT4. It has a different battle theme based on where you are.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


That is honestly super cool being able to keep the melody while also managing to sound unique. You actually just reminded me of Fire Emblem Fates, while not the same, Fates took the map theme and when you engage with another unit, the theme makes a near seamless transition to become more intense and then goes back to normal.
 
Carassius Auratus

Carassius Auratus

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Nov 1, 2017
2,337
If I never have to hear Last Surprise again it would be too soon. :/

Anyways,

The three Xenoblade games have different normal battle themes depending on what you're fighting, where you're fighting, and in X's case, how you're fighting (in mech or on foot).
 
HiroTSK5

HiroTSK5

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Nov 4, 2017
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Kingdom Hearts II has a battle theme for every world as well as different boss themes for Heartless/Nobody/Disney Villain battles.
 
adz2ka

adz2ka

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Nov 1, 2017
1,034
Grandia does this, and does this well. When you reach a certain point in the game, not only does the game change thematically but the accompanying battle music changes (for the better)
 

Deleted member 11626

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Golden Sun: The Lost Age
GS: Dark Dawn

Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2

These are what immediately come to mind but there are more
 
JCX

JCX

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Oct 25, 2017
795
Xenoblade Series does them well. I feel 1 is weakest, but 2's late game battle theme is the best in the series.

I love Black Tar 1 and 2, but I also love the corny rap nu-metal sound.
 

Deleted member 34949

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Pokemon does this though it's by design, as there's a battle theme for different types of battles (Wild Pokemon/Trainer Battles/Gym Leaders/Legendaries, etc.)

Special mention goes to Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal and it's remakes, which manages to work in arrangements of nearly all of the Kanto battle themes from Gen 1 into the second half of the game.
 
Edgar

Edgar

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Witcher 3 has like for each region multiple battle themes, I think they even have a song for every skellige island
 
Doggg

Doggg

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Nov 17, 2017
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Panzer Dragoon Saga has different themes for different areas.
 
steviestar3

steviestar3

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Jul 3, 2018
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Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne does this better than basically any other game out there. It has a ton of battle themes and they're all amazing.

Every battle theme has a ton of variations too. Here's an example:



This one battle theme can end in 8 different riffs. Only thing that sucks is that the version included on the official OST only includes one of these riffs, so there's no way to listen to the most of the variations in high quality (as the game's sound quality is unfortunately pretty bad).
 
werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
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Oct 26, 2017
11,378
adz2ka said:
Grandia does this, and does this well. When you reach a certain point in the game, not only does the game change thematically but the accompanying battle music changes (for the better)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, Grandia changes the battle music partway plus it also has different battle themes based on whether you get advantage or not.
 
MrT-Tar

MrT-Tar

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Nov 2, 2017
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It's pretty common among JRPGs. Recently, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has several, with these two being my favourites.

The first Grandia game also comes to mind too, for the first disc this is the battle theme; once you change to the second disc, you get this masterpiece.
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

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Oct 27, 2017
17,819
Maybe this counts, but Final Fantasy VIII, depending on if you're in Squall's or Laguna's sections. Laguna's is better. :)
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

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Oct 26, 2017
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7th Saga has 3 battle themes, on top of the boss and last boss themes.
 
Prophaniti

Prophaniti

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Oct 28, 2017
2,028
The Pokemon red/blue battle music at the Elite Four would psych me out and I'd have to turn it off.

Persona 5s battle music is so annoying. It's a great song in general but after the first 2 dungeons I was sick of it.

ghibli99 said:
Maybe this counts, but Final Fantasy VIII, depending on if you're in Squall's or Laguna's sections. Laguna's is better. :)
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"The Man With The Machine Gun" is a great battle song
 
HosannaExcelsis

HosannaExcelsis

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Oct 25, 2017
2,333
FiveSide said:
Mother games already mentioned twice, including by OP, but I think it's worth mentioning Mother 3 in particular. I think it probably has more standard battle themes than any other RPG ever made, not sure of the exact count but I'd say it has at least 30.
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It's also worth mentioning that Mother 3's plethora of battle themes ties into its combat system having a rhythmic component, in which tapping the button in time with the music allows for extra attacks. One way in which boss battles become more difficult is by having battle themes that are especially rhythmically complex, and thus trickier to tap along with. It's a really neat mechanical idea.
 

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Persona 3 Portable technically has two but they're for two mutually exclusive characters you pick between first thing so doesn't really satisfy what you mean

I thought P5's music really wasn't that bad.
 
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